Rock Shop: Rubik, For A Minor Reflection, Team Genius

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Rubik

Rubik is a Finnish indie pop/rock band known for its unique style of rich sound, complex but well-contained arrangements, changing rhythms and melodies ranging from playful and danceable to wistful and delicate.
The band played their first live show in 2003 and released their debut EP People Go Missing in the beginning of 2005 through New Music Community, causing a stir in the indie scene.
The band’s first full-length album, titled Bad Conscience Patrol, was released in March 2007 through Fullsteam Records. Following the release, the band toured in Finland, the US, Canada, and some European festivals.
Their second album entitled Dada Bandits was released on April 1, 2009. In the review of the album Spin Magazine wrote: “ADHD’d Finns explode piano balladry, spacey synths, drum blarts, mariachi brass, and a hypnotic chorus, then let the pieces fall into place”. “Listening to Dada Bandits, it’s hard not to feel that Rubik’s done more-rather than following international trends, they’re showing us all the way forward”, wrote Nylon Magazine. Filter Magazine described “It’s pure prog for now people… or perhaps No Wave for those with less access to cheap heroin. Freaky.” The band toured in Finland and in Europe and twice in the US, first in autumn 2009 and again in summer 2010 playing with mewithoutYou. After the US tour the band played in Roskilde festival in Denmark and Øya festival in Norway in summer 2010.

Rubik playing ‘Storm in a Glass of Water’ at Flow Festival 2011
The third full-length album Solar was released March 23, 2011 receiving praising critiques both in the Finnish and international media. When reviewing the album, Die Zeit wrote: “‘Solar’ offers an array of songs with almost flawless pop structures.”[1] The blog Burning Ear described the album’s songs in the following way: “‘World Around You’ is a toy train on steroids as it careens its day-glo body around beautifully sloping railways on a summer afternoon. ‘Storm In a Glass of Water’ and ‘Solar Death March (In Octaves)’ showcase their knack for making beautiful music even when stripped down to it’s barest bones. And all that is less than half the album.”[2] The Finnish music monthly Sue named Solar “a modern Finnish national treasure, 9/10″. The album was mixed by Ben Allen who has also mixed albums for M.I.A, Cut Copy, Deerhunter and Animal Collective. The months following the release the band toured all over Finland. From May to June Rubik toured in Europe playing also at the Primavera festival in Barcelona. The same summer the band played on all the major festivals in Finland. In September 2011 Rubik began a two-month tour heading to Europe, Mexico’s Cervantino festival and the US.
In concerts Rubik has up to eight musicians on stage playing instruments from the clockwork to the gong. The band has been acclaimed for its devoted performance.

For A Minor Reflection

For a Minor Reflection

Hailing from Iceland FaMR comprises of four 20-year-olds from Reykjavík, Iceland – Kjartan Holm (guitar), Guðfinnur Sveinsson (guitar and piano), Elvar Jón Guðmundsson (bass) and Andri Freyr Þorgeirsson (percussion). Their music is best described as energetic, melodious post-rock, though being the natural creative visionaries they are, the band expand and even subvert their style with almost every song.

Starting life as a hard rock duo in a tiny garage in Reykjavík, Iceland, For a Minor Reflection (FaMR) morphed into an indie rock trio (for a week or so) and a blues quartet (for a little longer) before finally arriving at their current incarnation: instrumental post-rockers du jour.

Back in 2007, the quartet struck up a fan base with their self-produced debut album Reistu þig við, sólin er komin á loft… (Rise, the sun’s up…), a mesmerizing, hour-long tapestry featuring six songs and recorded over a weekend in their friend’s studio. This record, as well as their energetic live shows, earned them a slew of accolades, including favourable comparisons to Explosions in the Sky, Caspain and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Their fellow Icelanders Sigur Rós even described them as “a band with the potential to out Mogwai”.

Following a scintillating live performance at 2007’s Iceland Airwaves, FaMR were invited to undertake a two-week 2008 tour in the USA and Canada. Later in the same year the band were invited to do 15 dates with Sigur Rós on a European tour and used the opportunity

Team Genius

CMJ said: “It doesn’t take exceptionally high IQs to realize the power of bouncy synths and endless falsettos, but it helps,” while L Magazine put it this way: “Their material reveals a band with a sophisticated understanding of pop music, honing in on gliding harmonies and bright, boxy choruses.” Either way, we agree.